The Unalaq Clan
by axleonex
Summary: When Vaatu decides to change a single event in Unalaq's past, Desna and Eska will live out their days as the heirs of the Southern Water Tribe.
1. Family Tied

**Book 1: Harmony**

**Family Tied**

They slide through the cave leaving behind the echoes of their movements. The glacial formations do nothing to slow down the two siblings as they race down the fluorescent ice cave. Maneuvering across the ceiling Desna is the first to fling himself out of the opening. His expression is stern while his sister won't stop grinning behind him.

Flinging out of the cave Desna skiis onto the hill and regains momentum. He quickly picks up speed putting himself further away from his sister. He looks back at her only to notice that she's disappeared. One second later he and his penguin board fly up into the air causing the two to separate. They both, out of some non-existent instinct, try to flap their arms as though they can fly. Desna lands face first onto the snow beneath them, breaking the fall for his otter penguin whom lands softly on top of him.

Eska skis down in front to them, she steps off her board and lets her and her brother's otter penguins waddle away. "Welp," Eska says while clasping her hands, "looks like I win." She lifts off her goggles and lowers the black bandana from her face. "Looks like you'll be staying once the festivals over." She reaches for her pouch and pulls out a fish kabob. She takes a bite from it and then offers the rest to her brother. "It's a good thing too, the salmon here are way better then what they have in the northern tribe." She begins waving the salmon stick closer to him. "C'mooon little brother, you know you like Salmon!"

Desna pulls himself out from the snow. He lifts his goggles off and lowers his white bandana. "This isn't a game Eska." His voice comes out flat. "I never said I wouldn't go if you won the race. And you're not stopping me just because you won a stupid game." Eska's eyes change from an ambient glow to a fainting dim. Her face falls grim as though a cinderblock were ready to sink her down the bottomless ocean. Desna continues, "I'm going with Tonraq once he leaves. Whether you want me to or not."

Eska looks her twin brother a bit longer. With nothing left to say her face morphs from a look of angst and concern into a face of resentment and fury. Her eyebrows crunch and her fists clench. She grits her teeth and finally lashes out at her brother. "Fine!" Eska yells, causing some of the the snow around them to rise up. "If you want to throw your life away joining Tonraq's army, go ahead!" The grounds shake more. The otter penguins wisely scatter away from them. Desna himself isn't sure if Eska notices the commotion that she's causing. "Forget family, forget the tribe, forget your life! If you really want to throw away everything you have for some worthless war, be my guest!"

A nearby glacier cracks in half. It plummets into the ocean as Eska's voice puffs more heavily. At this point, Eska probably doesn't care about the damage she's causing. She yells, "you're the smartest kid in the tribe, the best water bender in the world, and you're still too stupid to see that Tonraq's war is a waste of time." She closes her eyes to faces down at the ground. The shaking around them begins to subside as she draws her fists closer to herself. "You're going to lose everything, _for nothing._"

She goes silent, and so do the seismic activity. Desna sits quietly in place contemplating what to say next. Unfortunately he knows that nothing he can say will serenade his sister's mind. Instead, the two fo them stay there in quiet limbo as the southern winds fill the void that is their silence.

XXX

Korra breathes slowly as the ship finally reaches the dock. Stowed away in the haul of the ship, Korra dazes into the distance as the other passengers huddle alongside each other for warmth. The only people that don't hold onto someone else are the people that had their bending taken away by the equalists. Maybe they can find condolences and warmth with one another but no one among them are willing to try so.

They're called 'disarmed', because losing bending was equivalent to losing an arm. Something that had once been an extension of themselves their whole lives was stolen from them in an instant. Only pity can be given to the disarmed people, and for benders, disarmed are a reminder of the power that the equalists hold.

"Alright," the ship captain announces. He opens the haul of the ship and starts motioning them to exit. "This is as far as I can take you. Pay up as you come up." On queue, the people walk towards him one by one.

The passengers head up the stairs and into the light. Korra pays her fee and steps onto the deck. The temperature drastically drops but the change doesn't faze Korra. She looks out across the ocean and sees Harbour city several kilometers from where she stands. The city widely stretches across the shorelines and it's lights block out most of the stars. The Glaciar Spirits festival hasn't even begun but the locals can still be heard preparing for tourists from where they stand.

The sight is breathtaking for the other passengers. Even some of the disarmed people put on a faint smile. Korra isn't impressed by the city. She instead wonders how she'll reach the city when she can't water bend herself across the ocean.

"How can we reach the city?" A passenger asks. "We can't swim across, it's too cold. Can't you take us closer?" The passengers look nervous. They know better then to anger the captain, but they also fear how they'll get off the glacial island.

The captain continues collecting fees from the passengers. "Not my problem." A parrot lizard hops on the captain's shoulders and repeat his words, as though to emphasize his point. "Not his problem! Not his problem!"

The animal is symbolic for pirates everywhere. It's as though gaining a reptile bird is part of the pirate initiation. For the passengers it matters very little. Pirates are the only ones willing to smuggle refugees to the other nations.

Eventually, one of the passengers can't pay a fee. "Fire nation money?" The pirate yells. "Do I look like I'm going to the fire nation any time soon!?"

The young boy shivers in fear. He uses the worst possible tactic to try to appeal to the pirate; Pity. "You don't understand sir," The boy pleads, "it's all I have left, it's my father's inheritance."

"You think that matters to me?" The captain whistles to his crew. The crewmen surround the boy and grab him by the arms. "No payment, no ride. Tie him back in the haul, he's going back to equaltopia."

The pirates drag the passenger into the hull. "No!" The boy yells, "I used to be a bender! Do you know what they do to people like me!?"

The pirate captain throws the fire nation currency into the ocean. "Don't care kid. When you can't pay the fee, you don't deserve to board my ship."

The boy struggles to free himself but his efforts are futile. No one among the passengers are willing to help him. Korra lifts up her hood to make sure her face is concealed. Hope fades from his face as he returns to the darkness of the haul. All the passengers left are finally ready to leave the ship.

As they step off the deck, a familiar sound is heard. Paralyzed in fear, the refugees look towards the source. The haul is flashing in lights. Trickles of electricity are heard as shivers crawl down the spines of the refugees. The captain unsheathes his swords, "Equalists!"

Two agile soldiers sprint out from the haul wearing the infamous green eyed masks that inflict terror into benders everywhere. They swipe their batons at the captain, but the captain delfects their blows. "Run you cowards." The passengers shake off their shock. The captain orders, "You disarmed folks are failures anyway. Get off my ship, and leave the fighting to the real warriors."

The rest of the captain's crew spring into action. A third equalist jumps from the haul and electricutes another crewmen. The pirates begin slashing their swords at the intruders, but the equalists are masters in the art of evasion. Dodging blow per sword, the equalists zap the crewmen with their weapons one by one. The pirates fall down like flies as the shocks of electricity are heard from outside the ship.

The refugees don't bother staying any longer. They abandon the captain and head as far away from the ship as possible. They don't look back as the captain collapses from the electric glove. Nor do they pay attention when the ship catches fire and sinks to the bottom of the sea. Tired of fighting and adapted to running, the refugees would rather face the mystery of the blizzard then the hostility of an equalist.

XXX

"Assistant, hand me the, um..." Varrick turns around to point towards the tool box. "That thing." Varric's intern, a young man from the northern water tribe, hands Varric the wrench. "You know," Varric says while loosening a screw. "Zhu Li never needed me to *point* to things."

His intern rolls his eyes. There are three students there, Apaata, Li, and Mei. After Varrick had moved his company to the Southern water tribe, his need for dedicated assistants lead him to an education program sponsored by the fire nation. Three students, each from the three respective nations, were offered an assistant role under Varric's watch. In exchange for their time with helping him, the students will be assured engineering positions in one of his firms.

"You, the red one." Varrick tosses the wrench at the fire nation boy, "Hold this for me." Li catches the wrench on time, but falls backwards in the process.

"Oof," Li's nimble body aches from the fall. "Ouch," he moans. Rubbing his bottom he groans, "My name is Li by the way."

"It takes too long to remember names, Red." Varric waves a finger, "don't spend too much time thinking on the little things, otherwise big things will pass you by when you aren't be looking."

Li rolls his eyes. He learned to stop listening to Varrick a week after working with him. Mei, the girl wearing an Earth Kingdom tunic, ponders at the statement. "But Varric, isn't the name Red a little racist?" She asks.

Varrick twitches. The third boy, Apaata from the northern water tribe, shakes his head. "I honestly wouldn't mind being called a color. I wish Varric should at least call me blue, instead of guppy fish." The name is also ironic considering that Apaata is bigger then most adults.

Mei sighs,"I wouldn't mind being called badger mole or green girl." She adjusts her glasses. "Instead Varrick calls me Zhu Li Two. I've never even met Zhu Li One." Mei gasps, "Oh my gosh! Varrick, did something happen to Zhu Li One?"

"Enough chit chat!" Varrick interrupts, "I'm paying you to assist, not to chat!"

The students in yell, "You're not even paying us!"

Unalaq steps onto the deck of the ship. He strides over towards where Varrick and his students are working. He doesn't normally pester the people he hires, especially not Varrick, a world renowned genius who works best when left alone. But considering that the Glaciar spirits festival will begin soon, and that his brother will stop by to visit, Unalaq can't help but make sure that Varrick's schedule is on track.

"Varrick," Unalaq says while putting on a warm smile. "How are-"

"Not now chief," Varrick interjects. He puts on his goggles and motions for everyone to stand back. After they all take a few steps back Varrick points a remote to the crate and clicks the button. "Say hello to our radio controlled fireworks!"

A single rocket fires from the crate. The rocket soars into the air and reaches a hundred meters into the sky. It explodes to a dozen miniature fireworks, then each of those explode into a dozen more. From a distance it looks like the team is working on the lights show for the Glaciar Spirits festival. Only Varric and Unalaq know the true intention for these explosions.

"Mesmorizing." Unalaq says, "did you design the fireworks as well?" Varrick had told him he was working on a long distance detonator. He hadn't expected the fireworks to be more powerful than the ones from last year, maybe even powerful enough to take down a biplane.

"Yes and no," Varrick says. He points to Mei, whom sighs. "Zhu Li two said we should go for bigger fireworks this year." Mei sighs again. Varrick adds, "So I asked myself, 'how much bigger can we make them?' I'm telling you chief, these fireworks can blow up mountains."

Varric puts his arm around the chief. "Please don't call me chief," Unalaq says, "I'm part of the southern tribe council. That doesn't make me chief."

Varric leers at him. "Not with that attitude you're not." Varrick leads Unalaq to the captain's quarter of the ship. Varrick's interns have formed a routine of cleaning up the tools whenever he needs to speak with Unalaq alone. There's an ongoing debate among the students about Varrick and Unalaq's sexuality, but they always make sure to keep it among themselves.

In the quarter, Varrick sits down behind his desk. "So Chief, how's the war effort?"

Unalaq rubs his eyelids. He can't always keep up with Varrick's straightforwardness. "Never mind Equaltopia. I just came here to ask you about the submarines. They were supposed to be your number one priority, why did you decide to work on a side project instead?"

"Hey, now hold on there one minute." Varrick stands up from his chair just to emphasize his point. "I was working just fine until your brother showed up."

Unalaq's eyes widen, "Tonraq?" He asks, "He was here? What did he say? Did he see what you were doing?"

"Relax chief." Varrick says, "Tonraq stopped by my ship to ask if I wanted to work for him in the northern water tribe. I was working on the submarines before, but once I found out that he was on board my vessal, I had to switch to working on that student project of ours."

Unalaq's face turns pale. He knew Varrick was famous, but he didn't think Varrick could attract his own brother's attention. "He wanted you to work for him?"

Varrick nods. "He was relentless too. He said I'd be helping water benders everywhere, like some sort of propaganda machine." Varrick pumps his chest, "I told him Varrick is not for sale."

The implications to this only further Unalaq's suspicions. If Tonraq wanted more engineers in the northern water tribe, he was probably preparing for war. "And he didn't see what you were really working on?"

Varrick ecstatically nods, "he doesn't suspect a thing."

Unalaq bids his farewells and heads off the ship. The students chuckle at the sight of him but Unalaq has learned to ignore their shenanigans. With the Glaciar Sprit's festivals starting tomorrow, Unalaq knows that soon he will need to finally confront his brother.


	2. Living With Strangers

**Living with Strangers**

Tenzin steps off from Oogie's back. Oogie makes sure to lick him as he does but Tenzin doesn't react. No one can deny that Tenzin has become more solom since the incident in Republic city. Cracking a smile has become a chore for him. Dark circles have formed around his eyelids from studying so much, and he's recently become more comfortable with slouching most of the time.

"Grandma Katara!" Jinora and Ikki yell. They run over to their grandmother for an embrace. "It's so good to see you!" Jinora says, "I've been dying to ask you about the adventures you've had with Grandpa Aang."

Katara looks over to Tenzin who gives her a blank stare. "I'll tell you some stories tonight," Katara says,"but for now, let's help you all get settled in." Looking back up at Tenzin, Katara sees him facing is down at the ground. Before Tenzin can speak Katara wraps her arms around her son. "I'm so glad you finally came," Katara says, "The whole family has been wanting to see you."

Tenzin lifts an eyebrow in surprise. He croaks, "the whole family?"

Bumi runs over to them and lifts both up in his arms, "about time you showed up!" He yells. Tenzin can't help but feel some stress squeeze off from his brother's crushing embrace. "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for you to come visit ma? I've been waiting longer then the time it took for them to rescue me when I got stranded on Embers Island!"

Kya helps Pema with their luggage. She helps Pema off of Oogie's back as she carries Rohan in her arms. Kya asks, "you got stranded on an Island resort?"

Bumi nods proudly, "I had to survive drinking coconut juice through bamboo straws."

Kya smirks, "You had to survive drinking exotic beverages? No wonder you never retire."

Bumi lets go of his mother and brother. He walks over to Pema and takes her luggage for her. Bumi answers, "Someone's gotta do it. It's not an easy job, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. Besides someone's gotta keep those equalists in check. If it weren't for me, the Equalists would've-"

Pema interrupts, "Let's not talk about the equalists today. A festival is here and we need a break from all this politics talk." Bumi and Kya nod in agreement. The three of them, along with Jinora, Ikki and Rohan in Pema's hand, all walk towards the house. Pema looks back at the direction of her husband. "Tenzin?" She calls while hiding any signs of concern in her voice, "Make sure Meelo makes it in time for dinner."

Meelo hides underneath the saddle of Oogie. He pretended to be sleep throughout most of the trip but Pema knows most of his tricks by now. Meelo calls out, "I will!" and goes back to pretending to sleep. Pema smirks at that and walks into the house with the rest of Tenzin's family.

Katara and Tenzin stay behind. Katara's face down falls from relief to concern. She asks, "You're not here for the Glacial festival are you?"

Tenzin nods his head slowly. "I'm afraid not mother. I came across some ancient scrolls revealing the spiritual importance of the Glacial spirits festival. I believe there's a way to restore me and my family's bending by communicating with the spirits during this time."

Meelo makes sure to lean an ear in their direction. He's as persistant as his father when it comes to getting his bending back. While Ikki and Jinora both may look at the loss as a tragedy, only Tenzin and Meelo refuse to accept that they may never regain their air bending.

"Tenzin," Katara pleads, "I'm worried about you. You look as though you haven't slept in days. And when was the last time you showered?"

Tenzin rubs his eyes, "Mother, I'm fine, I showered last week. I just need your help with arranging a meeting with Unalaq. He's the spiritual leader of the South and he can help me get in contact with the spirits."

For a moment Katara doesn't say anything. The stress on Tenzin's face has really taken it's toll on him. It's obvious that he can't live without his airbending because its so ingrained into his being. He's let the world down and believes he's let his father down. Having been raised to live for the air nation, how can anyone accept that their entire lifetime was pointless?

Katara sees his frustration and puts her arm on his shoulder. "Tenzin, I'll help you in every way I know that I can. But if you ever want to get your airbending back, you'll need to be well rested and healthy. Take a break from your searching for now. Some answers can't be found when they're being searched for."

Tenzin turns his shoulder away from her and walks into the house. "I'm fine mother. I know what I'm doing, and slowing down isn't going to help anyone." He walks into the house alone, leaving Katara with more concern in her heart.

XXX

Desna looks through his telescope at the barren wasteland. No hints of life are seen through the blazing blizzard as it covers most of the southern hemisphere. The atmosphere is nearly inaudible over the whistling winds. Desna's winter gear barely manages to prevent the chilly air from touching his skin.

The guards don't expect to find anyone tonight. Travelers only visit the city when the weather is calm. "Atuat," Desna says, "See anything on your side?"

"Yeah, I see something," Atuat says. Desna turns to his side. Atuat is facing the other side of the tower looking down into the City. She magnifies her binoculars, "You're sister is buying a baby turtle duck at the marketplace right now, making her three times cuter then she normally is."

Atuat has always had a habit of slacking off while on duty. Which is probably why she always gets assigned with Desna. Desna is the only person in the south that can keep Atuat on task, and Atuat is also the only girl they know that can tolerate Desna's up-tight attitude.

Desna snatches the binoculars away from her. He doesn't even bother to look at her,"If you want to go out with my sister, then just ask her out." He shoots a glare at her, "but don't stalk her while you're on guard duty."

His partner groans, "You know that won't work on her."

"Then stop stalking her!" Desna yells. "It's creepy."

She sighs,"life's not fair." Atuat shrugs her shoulders and returns to her post. "I'm the only gay water bender in our tribe, your sister is the cutest girl I know but she'll never be interested in me."

Atuat takes out her spare telescope. She looks out into the tundra region side. As wall guards it's their job to look for any travelers that need assistance with entering the city. They're so used to never encountering anyone that Atuat has made 'sleeping on the job' an accurate description for herself. "Seriously," she mutters, "how can she be so cute without any make up? If Eska weren't straight, I'd marry her in a heart beat." Before she can say another word, several dark figures are seen through her lenses in a distance. "Refugees," She announces, drastically changing her tone. "There are several of them. I can see nine from here."

"What?" Desna checks through his own telescope. Several more people are walking over the horizon. "None of them are wearing gear." Desna says, "They'll die before they make it to the city." Atuat starts signalling the nearby guards using flash signals. "Atuat, finish signaling the captain. I'll get the snow mobiles ready."

Eska shows her boyfriend the turtle duck that he just paid for. "Isn't she so cute!" Eska says to him, "Don't you just wanna cuddle with her!" She embraces the baby duckling to her cheek. Nuel melts as he sees her cuddling with the tiny reptile-bird. Her pig tails and childish nature makes her irresistable to most of the boys in the south.

"You know," Nuel says "I'm really good at cuddling too." He spreads out his arms and walks towards her. Before he can wrap his arms around her she tosses the turtle duck at him. He hastily catches the pet on time, barely keeping it from touching the ground. "What the heck?" He yells.

Eska is already at the next concession stand, "look Nuel! Salmon on sticks!" Nuel sighs, he walks over to her and asks, "how much?"

Eska hates being embraced, especially by people she doesn't like. Eska likes to categorize her acquaintances into two categories: Friends and boyfriends. A boy friend is someone that will buy her the things she wants. Friends are the people that she actually values.

They eat their Salmon at the restaurant table. "Hey Eska," Nuel says, "What do you think about me?"

What a weird question. "Don't worry about it!" Desna replies, faking a smile.

He asks again, "no really, what do you think about me?"

Another thing about Eska's boyfriends is that they're essentially strangers to her, they're normally cute boys that think they have a shot at her. Most of these people are guys that think they can buy their way into her heart, which is exactly why she doesn't value them.

Eskna sighs. _Well, since he wants to hear it._ "You're a lose-" Mid sentenced, someone grabs Eska by the shoulder. Eska turns her head.

"Eska," Korra says, "I need to speak with Unalaq."

XXX

The captain steps out from his van. Unlike his daughter Atuat, who is slender and keeps her hair to her neck level, Captain Matua has wide shoulders and is larger then most men his age. Like many of his fellow tribesmen, he keeps his hair in a warrior-like pony tail so that it doesn't get in the way of his water bending.

"Check the vitals." The captain orders. "Anyone who can be healed, bring them into the vans."

They comply. Upon checking everyone's conditions, the squad takes the surviving people into the van to begin their healing treatment. Each squad member is an expert healer with most having years of medical experience. These past few months have been exhausting for them and they've recently begun requesting more recruits. Two of whom, are Atuat and Desna.

"It's crazy you know," Atuat says to Desna after seeing the refugees. "These people are willing to come such a far way just to get away from the equalists." Atuat and Desna aid in checking the people's vitals. They each know basic healing skills which can assist the patients before handing them over to an expert. Atuat asks, "Can Equaltopia really be that bad?"

"Yes." One of the squad members answer, "the equalists are thorough in destroying bending abilities in every way. Many disarmed benders are exiled and harrased into leaving Equaltopia."

Atuat lays the last refugee into the medical bed. They shut the van doors and head back into the city. Twelve of the thirteen travelers survived. A high success rate compared some of the more recent incidents. While most of the adults heal the refugees, Atuat and Desna sit next to each other in a light silence.

"I wish there was more we could do," Atuat finally mutters.

Desna quietly replies, "We could attack Equaltopia." One of the squad members chuckle at him. Atuat's older sister, Sato, is a spitting image of Atuat five years older from now. Tall and petite, Atuat wishes she could look more like her.

Sato finally laughs, "that northern propaganda get to you too?" She pokes Desna in the forehead and says, "You're a smart kid. Don't think like that."

"You might as well tell me to not think at all." Desna points to the sleeping patient in the van, "Look at what they're doing. People die just get away from them. If we really wanna save people from this, liberating Equaltopia is a good start."

"For now," the driver interrupts, "we can help these people by bringing them into our tribe."

"Right, but what happens when one of these 'disarmed' people is an Equalist in disguiese."

"Desna!" Atuat yells, "Don't say that! That's never going to happen."

"Never is a strong word." Desna replies. "With every non-bender we take in, there's always the risk that one of them is an Equalist spy."

Sato sarcastically replies, "Right, because these dying refugees are always sooo dangerous. Leaving them out to die is the bestest solution!" She claps her hands together, "while we're at it, we should start exiling all the non-benders from our tribe. That ought to fix the problem!"

"I didn't say that," he argues. "We just need to be more selective of who we take in. What if-"

The patient starts coughing himself awake. "Equalists..." he mutters. "They're...here..." Sato tilts the patient's head down to help him breathe. She continues to flow water energies across his body to help him relax. "They followed us on the ship..." He continues, "they took out the captain and chased us across the blizzard."

The man tries get up to speak more clearly. Atuat lays him back down so that her sister can continue treating him. The patient locks his eyes on Desna, as though he's the only one who will listen to him. "They were chasing after the Avatar."

The driver swirls the van to avoid a passing turtle-seal. He yells, "What!?"

"The Avatar... has returned..." The patient begins coughing more heavily.

"Desna, wasn't your cousin the last avatar?" Sato asks.

Desna nods, "Yes, but she went missing before I could meet her." He can hardly believe what he was hearing. Could his cousin really still be alive? "The avatar," Desna asks,"was she a girl that looked as old as me?" He was dying to learn more.

"Yes," the man nods. Desna's eyes gleam with hope.

_So this isn't some new avatar, it's my cousin who must still be alive._ But then another thought occurs to him. _This guy is probably just hallucinating._ Desna asks a more important question instead. "The equalists, did they really follow you from your ship?" The patient slowly nods. Desna leans back on his seat. "Then we have a big problem."


	3. Pathways

**Pathways**

Tonraq launches another mountain of ice at his brother. Each attack he throws pushes his brother further and further away from him. While Unalaq may rely on precision and speed for his attacks, Tonraq prefers to attack like a mountain, making sure that each movement he makes is as destructive as an avalanche.

"Still haven't learned have you brother?" Tonraq smirks at him. Unalaq faces down at the ground, trying to pick himself up from the last attack. "Get up Unalaq, I've only just begun."

Unalaq can't get up. He doesn't want to feed any more of his brother's ego. Every year its the same thing, Unalaq and Tonraq travel away from the city for a duel. Unalaq will insist that precision and control makes a powerful bender while Tonraq argues that brute strength and power equivalents to skill level. Tonraq probably should have been born an earth bender.

Unalaq stands up adjusting his neck. "Can we make this quick this time?" Unalaq says. He had gotten tired of these fights a long time ago. Now its simply become tradition between the two for Tonraq to challenge Unalaq and not speak to him until after the duel is completed. The tradition started after Korra disappeared, and Unalaq has never won a single duel. "I need to speak to you about something."

"Well its only the two us," Tonraq starts punching the air like he were a pro-bender. He yells, "ask away."

His brother sighs, "What have you been telling Desna?"

Tonraq starts punching a few streams of snow at Unalaq. These are light attacks, they probably have the damage equivalency of a few snowballs. "Quite a few things."

Unalaq dodges the streams of snow and starts shooting his own light attacks at Tonraq. "He plans on joining your army after the Glaciar Spirits Festival ends."

Once again Tonraq matches Unalaq's moves by making sure to dodge the streams of snow. It now looks like two men are throwing snow at each other in some sort of snow ball fight. "Ah yes," Tonraq says. "Desna has been asking me about the army of the North. He seems very interested in joining."

"And what have you told him?" Unalaq asks.

"The truth of course. Desna sent a few letters asking about what we do and what would happen if he joined. Since he's a smart boy and a skilled water bender, he'd probably move up the ranks quickly. Obviously..." Tonraq launches a large clump of snow at Unalaq, one which he barely dodges, "we won't go easy on him just because he's family." The snow fight ends and he walks closer to Unalaq. "Relax," his brother assures, "your son will do fine, he is my nephew after all."

Unalaq clarifies himself, "I'm not concerned about him just joining your army. I'm concerned about him joining your army when there are rumors that you're planning an attack on Equaltopia."

For a moment it seems like Tonraq doesn't want to answer. He eventually looks his brother coldly in the eyes and says, "Everyone who joins my army knows exactly what they're getting into. No one is kept in the dark about what we're training for because I don't want any cowards in my army."

Unalaq asks again, "Will my son be entering a war?"

"We're negotiating with the Earth Queen." Tonraq answers, "If we can form an alliance, we can liberate Equaltopia within a few months." Unalaq doesn't look surprised. He starts heading back to the city, Tonraq follows. "Desna contacted me shortly after the Equalist revolution. The more he hears about them, the more he wants fight them."

"I've tried changing his mind." Unalaq admits, "but the more I try to argue, the further I push him away."

Tonraq finally puts his arm over Unalaq's shoulder, "then stop pushing him away! He's sixteen and an adult now, if he knows what he wants all you can do is wish him luck. After all, you don't want what happened with you and our parents to happen with you and Desna, do you?"

Unalaq sighs, "I lost the chance to know them when I moved to the southern tribe. I don't regret staying here to marry Malina, but I still wish I hadn't cut all contact from them."

"You know what our parents said was the hardest part about having kids?" Tonraq says, "Watching them grow up."

XXX

Eska tosses another dress to Korra. "Now go!" She yells. Upon stepping out from the wardrobe Korra comes out dressed in an extravagant beaded dress with a tight fit coat on top of it. Korra spins once for Eska to see. "Needs more blue," she claims. Korra stomps back inside, this time picking up what she had from the rack.

"I still don't understand what was wrong with what I was wearing before," Korra says. She comes out of the dressing room in her old attire. Her jacket has pockets running down along the rib side and the dress is replaced with a pair of tough skin cargo pants. "I dislike dresses, they're useless for combat."

"You poor soul..." Eska says, sulking over what Korra picked out. "You truly are lost in the art of beauty." Korra's face burns red. She takes what Desna recommended and furiously enters the dressing room without saying another word.

No other time of year does the city get as busy as it does during the Glacier spirits festival. People from across the four nations travel to participate in the celebration. Venders seize the opportunity and try to impress tourists with their mediocre games. Korra is the only tourist that finds herself looking up at the southern lights. The spirits dance above everyone, but only a few ever bother to stop and notice them.

Her tranquility gets side tracked, as Eska keeps insisting that they focus more on the gaming stands. "Can't I get a prize for effort?" Eska flashes her wide eyes at the vendor. Her lips curl for the sake of garnering more sympathy.

The vender sighs, "alright, but don't tell my boss I did this."

Eska cheers. She snatches the turtle duck prize from the stand and makes sure to kiss the vendor on the cheek before leaving. She returns to Korra with a new toy to add to their collection. "Was that necessary?" Korra finally asks. Korra carries several more prizes from the other vendors that Eska had swindled. "And why do you keep collecting so many turtle ducks? These stuffed animals already take up too much space. "

They both walk down the street and head toward the port deck. "Its absolutely necessary," Eska says. "This is the only time of year I get to collect as much free stuff as I can get. Every year I make sure to take advantage of the festival, mercilessly," Eska laughs maniacally. Korra wonders how she could be related to her.

Sitting at the port deck Eska orders a few fried chicken sticks for herself and Korra. Korra instinctively eats quietly, Eska savors the taste of the chicken. "Y'know," Eska says with her mouth half full. "You could stay with me and my family if you'd like. I know the refugee centers are terrible, and with my brother leaving after the Glaciar festival ends, I'd love to have a sister replacement around."

Korra thinks about that for a moment. Even though Korra had never had a sibling before she and Eska are technically family. Oddly, the idea doesn't appeal to her at all. Most of Korra's life had been spent traveling the world, the thought of staying in one place and doing what Eska does for a living actually terrifies her. "I appreciate the offer Eska, but I want to return to the United Republic as soon as possible. I only came here after learning about the spirits and the spirits festival, it wouldn't be wise for me to over stay my visit."

Eska can't help but feel a little disappointed. She didn't really expect Korra to say yes, but she's going to miss having someone to talk with once her brother leaves. After finishing their meals, a guard tackles Eska to the ground. "Wife!" The guard yells.

"My love!" Eska yells in return, "You've returned from your adventures!"

The two girls look over to Korra with a grin. She looks confused about the whole situation. The girl wearing the guard uniform asks, "Eska, who's the ninja friend?"

The girl's label wasn't too far off. Korra had decided to cover her bottom face in a scarf before leaving Desna's home. Her goggles cover the other half of her face and her hoodie hides the hair style that she wears. Desna had attempted to force makeup onto her, Korra rebelled and opted to completely hide her head out of spite.

"This is Aura," Eska says. "She's a refugee from the United Republic. She's staying here for the Glacier Spirits Festival. Aura, this is Atuat, my illegitamate wife."

Aura is the name Korra gave to Eska to hide her identity. They'd never met before but the name Korra can still easily be associated with the previous avatar. The world thinks Korra as either dead or missing, and she has no reason to disprove any of those theories. She's taken up multiple names and histories in the past, her current identity was inspired by the refugees that she'd travelled with on her way to the south pole.

Aura casually bows to Atuat. "Nice to meet you," Aura says politely.

Atuat mirrors the bow sluggisly, "nice to meet you too, Aura. I hope you've enjoyed the festival so far."

Aura nods. "Are you on guard duty?" Aura asks, "you seem a bit young to be given such a responsibility."

Atuat removes her hoodie and undos the braids that she had on. Her guard shift is finally over and she can now loosen up her hair. "In the southern tribe we're allowed to be sixteen and take up guard work. I heard in the Republic people needed to be eighteen to do law enforcement work. Since there isn't much crime in the south, they'll let almost anyone volunteer."

"I see." Aura says plainly. "But would you be prepared if Equalists came?"

Atuat's eyes widen. She clearly had never thought about that before. Normally Autat would laugh off the question as though it didn't matter. But seeing as the asker is a refugee, someone whom might have had first hand experience at the mercy of an Equalist, she decides not to take the subject too lightly. "I don't know," Atuat answers honestly, "None of us have ever faced an Equalist before. We wouldn't know if we're prepared unless they decide to attack."

There's a short pause among the three of them. A subject that none of them wanted to think about had just opened up. Desna couldn't tolerate the tension. "Oiy!" Desna yells in the air as though none of them are next to her. "Forget about the Equalists! Lets get massages instead!"

Atuat chuckles at that, "sounds like a plan. C'mon Aura, I know a great chi massager north of here, he gives discounts during the festival."

XXX

The three White Lotus members scan across the refugee center for any signs of whom they are looking for. They wear their white cloaks so that their statuses can be recognized. The few refugees that are there take warmly to their presence.

"Excuse me," Pi'Li says to one of the injured men. The man looks at her, fully impressed by the tattoos on her forehead. "I'm looking for a friend of ours. Have you seen her?" Pi'Le hands the man a well-painted oil picture of Korra.

The man examines the picture closely. He looks at it for a few minutes as though to try and familiarize himself with the person. "Sorry, I can't say have," the man replies. "Those eyes are awfully familiar to though. They remind me of the Avatar."


	4. Unity

**Unity**

"What day do equalists love the most?... A-MON-DAY!"

Tonraq still doesn't understand how the crowd can laugh so easily. The entertainer is a walking parody of what the Equalists aren't, yet the guests at the tribunal banquet eat up the punny jokes as though Amon were someone to laugh jester's mask is a flamboyant insult to Amon's infamous trademark. It's circle is light pink and the mouth piece stretches across the face to give it a ridiculous grin across the head. He makes Equaltopia look like a joke, and Tonraq hates him for it.

"I found a fire bender working undercover yesterday. I told him, you're fired! Oh, and I took away his bending."

With each joke that compelled the audience to laugh Tonraq found himself getting more and more irritated. Joking about war and tragedy would be shunned in the northern water tribe, yet here in the south, its the opening comedy act.

"What did Amon say to his Lieutenant when he asked him out on a date?... I don't BEND that way!"

"Enough!" Tonraq finally yells. The entire hall falls silent. "There is a war near our borders, and you all sit here and laugh like it's nothing but a joke!"

Unalaq sets his hand on Tonraq's shoulder, "I think that's enough entertainment for now." He gestures for the entertainer to step off from the platform. The jester leaves, hunching over as though he were ashamed of his own act.

"I would like to propose a toast." Unalaq lifts up his drink. "The Glaciar spirits festival is a spiritual celebration where we promote our friendship with spirits through community and reflection. Similar to how we use this day to commemorate spirits, we must also commemorate the familial bonds between the northern and southern tribes." Tonraq stays quiet, he knows better then to show disrespect to the southern tribe's unofficial chief. "There are threats arising in the world. Now, more then ever, our tribes must remain united in mind and in spirit. Just as our bonds survived the hundred year war, they must only strengthen through any conflicts that may arise. So I'd like to make a toast, to unity. May both our tribes remain symbols of lasting bond."

XXX

Aura and Eska sit outside the banquet hall building. "You didn't tell me Tonraq was here," Aura says. Her scarf is lifted over her nose and her goggles block out the color of her eyes. Her mouth is muffled as she speaks, "I cannot face him," she mumbles. "He hates my kind."

Eska sighs, still eating some of her bear paw stew. "It's common knowledge that he visits festival. sort of assumed you already knew."

"He hates disarmed people. The moment I speak to Unalaq, Tonraq will accuse me of being a spy."

Eska shakes her head, "relax, Tonraq is my uncle. I'll let him know that you're kewl."

"He won't believe you."

Eska stands up and turns points at her cousin. "You're telling me you traveled half way across the world only to get cold feet for facing my uncle?" She thinks about that for a moment,"Pun intended. Aura, you climbed an equalist wall, walked an earth kingdom desert, sailed an icy ocean, and trespassed our city's terrible security, illegally AND alone, yet you're afraid of facing some overrated chief?"

"He'll ruin everything. Unalaq and Tonraq are brothers, the moment I tell them I'm from the republic, Tonraq will call me a spy and discard my map. I won't be able to go to the spirit world, and any hope of speaking to the spirits for help will be gone."

Eska thinks to herself, _would my uncle do that? I dunno, Desna knows him better then I do. _Eska waves her hand boringly, "Fine, if you wanna throw away all the work you've done, be my guest." She turns her back on Aura. "Y'know what people in the north say about disarmed people? They say they deserved to get their bending taken away. And right now from the looks of it, if you're really too afraid to take a small risk to get it back, maybe they were right. Maybe you really don't deserve your bending."

Aura grits her teeth.

XXX

"So what happened?" Atuat finally asks.

Desna lets out a deep sigh of exaustion. "I was going to tell him, but before I could even speak to him he tried matching me up with some royal girl from the northern tribe."

She laughs, "was she at least cute?" Atuat says while grinning.

Irritated, Desna answers, "Cute, but not very bright."

"Well, at least your family is trying for you, " Atuat leans back at her chair and looks across some of the other tables. Her sister and father sit quietly at a table near the entry way of the banquet hall. "And at least they know what gender you like, my sister still thinks she can hook me up with the guys she met at the fire nation."

Desna takes another drink from his coffee mug. He's definitely learned to appreciate the time he spends to speak with Atuat. Most of his spare time is spent through studying or training. Eska prefers to spend their time together shopping for things he doesn't find interesting. And while his father might see him as naive for his age, he knows that Atuat is the only girl in their tribe that is neither intimidated nor attracted to his 'royal' status.

"I'll tell Tonraq about the equalists later tonight," Desna clarifies. "We might need to improve our security before an incident can occur."

She rolls her eyes, "but you're still not gonna tell him about the Avatar sighting?"

"I can't tell him about that because it's not relevant, I don't want him to think-"

Atuat places her hand over Desna's mouth. "Stop. You're lying again."

She takes her hand off from his mouth. "Look," Desna argues,"the source wasn't very reliable. He was injured and probably hallucinating about what had happened. He obviously made up the part that the Avatar saved him."

"But you still believe the equalist part?" Atuat leans in on her chair. "This is exactly why the guards agreed to not say anything, all the information came from an unreliable source. Tonraq would go crazy if Equalists made it to the festival. He'd tighten security, close borders to refugees, and probably end the festival over some unreliable information. He'd also make all the guards waste their time and resources looking for Avatar Korra. We'd be going on a wild goose chase based on what one injured old man had to say." She shoots glares at Desna, "but what's worse then that is you plan on telling him only half the truth. You want to tell him about the equalists because you feel the avatar part wasn't important. Worse yet, you somehow think an Equalist threat here could justify a future attack on Equaltopia." Without showing any more signs of anger, she takes a sip from cup. "That's fucking pathetic."

Desna thinks about that for a moment. His eyes go hazy as a defeaning noise induces a migraine. He tries to stand to see what had happen, but his eyes close before he can look up.

XXX

"Sixty people, ten minute countdown. Be quick." The equalists split up and run to their targets. Third Lieutenant Aran begins pulling out landmines from his backpack. His suit is heavier then the other two's are. It has several layers of spider silk making his clothes impenetrable against sharp objects.

Kana looks down at her target. "I'd actually like if the guards came, it would be nice to have a little show before leaving the scene." She smiles underneath her mask. Her target is Bumi, former general of the United Forces fleet. Founder of the freedom rebels, instigator of the Republic city rebellion. "I've got my new whistle here that I'd love to try out on them." She points her thumb to the massive, club-like instrument tied around her back.

"Not worth it." First Lieutenant Shin stresses, "we've already angered them enough. Tonraq will no doubt rally both tribes against this attack." He scans over the littered bodies across the banquet halls. The stick bombs Aran had assembled worked exactly as they were intended. "Let's not show them what we're capable of, keep it a mystery from them. This tribe is completely inexperienced against equalists, we'll use that advantage for as long as we can." He can tell Kana was smirking at him. "That means no light shows until it's necessary."

Shin finds Varrick laying down on the floor in front of three foreign adolescents. He ties his hands and feet as he sleeps and presses his body into a body bag.

"Time." Shin asks.

"Eight minutes." Aran replies.

That's one minues ahead of scheduale. Kana and Shin head through the back exit. Aran makes sure to leave a note on Tonraq's body before leaving. Heading through the back exit, the three equalists make their way into their escape vehicle.

XXX

In the north they are called the Elite. Handpicked by the chief himself, the Elite are trained warriors meant to act a special recon teams or secret police. Tonraq has forty of them stationed in the south ready to be called by him in an instance. Upon visiting the south he brings ten more, they act as extra security for himself.

In Equaltopia there were only two. Noah and Kanut were considered infamous amongst the warrior elite. They'd sabotaged and blackmailed dozens of politicians that could have tarnished Tonraq's strength. Opponants consistently found themselve illegitimized through false accusations and crimes. Elite are all immune from the law, and Kanut and Noah regularly take advantage of it.

"Do we stop them?" Noah asks Kanut.

Hidden behind in the alleyway, Noah and Kanut look at the equalist's getaway vehicle from a safe distance. The three of them begin stuffing the two unconscious bodies into the back of the van. "Not yet," Kanut says, "I'd like to know if this incident will attract the Avatar."

Noah lowers his telescope. "But they're going to get away with two very prominent civilians. If they get killed in action the attack on Equaltopia will not go smoothely." Noah is much younger then Kanut, some people have even mistaked Kanut as his father. "We can save them."

Kanut remains cool. "We don't know if there are more equalists elseware. We don't know if this kidnapping serves another motive. We aren't sure what their intentions are, and knowing it might be detrimental on what their future plans may be. We might be warriors, we might be able to defeat twenty equalists with ease, but were are recon first. Our only mission since enlistment has been to gather information. We only change goals if the information demands it. Our only mission since leaving equaltopia has been to track down Korra. And if these people could help us find where Korra is, we will stand by as long as necessary until it does not help our end goals. Do you understand Noah?"

Noah lets out a low groan, "Not really, but I'll follow whatever you say."

_ Good kid,_ Kanut thought to himself. Noah's been a good student under Kanut for years. He's made it his own personal mission to make sure Noah doesn't repeat the same mistakes he did when he was his age.

XXX

A turret of icicles bury into the vehicle's backside. Aran doesn't stop driving, the road is too thin to try and dodge the attacks.

Kana takes off the club on her back. Both as a statement and a question she yells, "I thought the guards wouldn't catch up to us!"

"These aren't law enforcement." Aran replies, "The map says police forces couldn't have caught up to us so quickly. They're probably locals trying to be-" A women in a black cloak thumps her feat into the mount of the vehicle. The girl shakes the hood off her head and grins at the driver. "Heroes..."

There were eight water whips extending from where her arms should have be. Four of them latched onto the vehicles wheels and popped them off. The girl propels off the vehicle using her arms as slide off the side of the road causing the team to spiral into the valley side.

Shin take Varric and Bumi on his shoulders, "I'll secure the targets. Kana, play them the tune." Kana flips a switch on her mechanical instrument.

A boulder slams to the side of the vehicle causing it to fall into the valley. The van abrutly stops but it doesn't hit the bottom. Instead, a stone platform breaks out from the valley side causing the van to stabalize. "An earthbender," Aran states. "They're not locals. Maybe mercenaries? This doesn't make sense."

A dark skinned, muscular man stands on another stone platform behind the back of the van. Ghazan wears only a few layers of cloth which do nothing to protect him from the cold. "You have fifteen seconds to release those hostages. And I like counting in fives. Five..." Kana kicks open the back door open. She points the nozzle end of her weapon at Ghazan. "Ten." Fire sprays out from the weapon's opening. "What?"

Ghazan lowers his platform to dodge the line of fire. He eventually has to form a stone wall between the both of them to stop the flames from touching him. "Since when did equalists firebend?"

Shin jumps off from the platform and scales into the darkness of the vally. He takes out two picks from his belt and uses them to glide down into the bottom. Ming-Hua grapples down the mountain side to chase after him. As she passes the van, Aran's electric glove touches her.

XXX

"Who the heck are they?" Noah asks, trying to seem cool headed as possible. Hidden in camouflage, the two Elites were easily able to follow the vehicle from a distance on their polar bear dogs.

"I can't believe it," Kanut says. This was only the second time Kanut had ever shown surprise in front of Noah, the first time being when they saw the Avatar. "They're the Black Lotus. I didn't think they really existed." Noah waits for him to explain. It was as though Kanut had to process his own thoughts before he could speak. "After the White Lotus gave up their secrecy following the hundred year war, there were rumours that a hidden group of White Lotus members still existed in the secrecy. These members, now called the Black Lotus, exist to maintain order and balance through ways the public white Lotus cannot. Ways that could tarnish a noble organization's reputation."

"Assassins," Noah deduces.

"More then assassins," Kanut corrects, "Nation destroyers. A single member is said to be strong enough to defeat an army. It could be very likely that the Black Lotus has soley manipulated history since the end of the Hundred year war."

Noah's eyes widen in understanding, "and now they're here."

Kanut nods to his pupil, "Another potential enemy of Tonraq."


	5. Guardians

**Guardians**

Ghazan sprints his way toward Ming-Hua, making sure to catch her before she can fall. His steps pull out earth platforms from the mountain side as he climbs up towards the road. The heavy armored equalist follows them. He climbs up the mountain side latching his arms into the stone as he crawls up.

With a gesture of his arm Ghazan melts the stone between himself and the equalist. "Lavabending?" Aran says. "I theorized it was possible, I didn't think I'd ever get to meet one." Cut off from them, Aran motions to Kana, "they're on the run, let's regroup with Shin while we still can."

Ghazan makes a leap over the road's edge. "Pi'Li, now!" He shouts to the mountain on the other side of the valley. The sounds of sparks head towards the mountainside. The van the equalists had abandoned bursts into peices. The equalists look over to the source.

Pi'Li stands tall in her black, Lotus designed cloak. With only her head uncovered, she glares directly to the equalists. "Stop." She says, letting the echoe of the mountain carry off her voice for her. "If you make any movements, I will make that mountain fall."

Kana and Aran hang to the wall. "Is she bluffing?" She converses.

"I'm not sure." Aran answers. "Her allies would die too if she did that. And since Shin took the targets into the valley, she'd be killing them too."

Kana shouts to the combustion bender, "Hey you! Are you bluffing!?"

Aran groans, "seriously?"

She fires another blast a few feet below the both of them. They hang on more tightly to their climbing gear. "Surrender," Pi'Li demands.

"I don't think she's bluffing," Kana concludes.

"Are you dense?"

"I want a guard on every street corner of this city!" More guards scatter away from Tonraq's direction.

Eska brings her father another cup of warm tea, "are you feeling better dad?"

He blinks a few times before taking the cup. "I'll be fine Eska. It's your brother I'm worried about."

Eska forces a grin, "relax dad. Desna might be stupid but he won't get himself killed playing hero."

"Still angry that he'll leave once the festival is over?"

"I'm not _angry_..." Eska retorts, "He's just STUPID FOR JOINING A LOST CAUSE!" She shouts in Tonraq's direction, which he ignores.

Kya holds her mother's hands at the footsteps of the banquet podiom. Kya knows for certain that Bumi will return home safely just as he always does. Although she's never believed in his tall tales she knows very well that Bumi can handle himself against equalists. "Bumi will be alright mom, we both know Bumi has gotten out of tougher situations!" She cracks a crooked smile.

Katara's mood lightens up from her comment. They both know Katara has had more faith in Bumi's war stories then Kya and Tenzin did. "I know," Katara smiles, "but it'll always be difficult for a mother not to worry for her children."

Tenzin sits quietly next to the both of them, looking down at the ground with his hands held together. "Air master Tenzin?" He looks up. A young girl in a winter coat gives a heavy bow to him. "My name is Aura. I would just like to say that the work you've done with the Air Acolytes is truly inspirational."

Tenzin lets out a sigh, "I'm afraid that work was for nothing. The air temple island that my father built has been destroyed. And there will be no air benders left now thanks to the equalists."

Aura replies, "Do not blame the equalists, Air Master Tenzin, only blame yourself." His eyes widen at the girl. His confusion is amplified by the fact that Aura's face is completely hidden and unmoving. "It is important to accept one's personal responsiblity in a tragedy in order to move on. Otherwise, you'll be trapped in an illusion that the past can be changed."

Tenzin rubs his eyelids. "I know its my own fault," he mutters it, as though he has never said it before.

"Then you also know that nothing could have been done differently?"

"Yes I could have, if I had just-"

"Stop." Aura demands, no longer showing respect to her seniority. "The more you focus about the past which cannot be changed, the more you cannot focus on the present. Avatar Aang's biography taught me that." Kya and Katara look at Aura in a strange curiousity. "My family was highly influenced by Air nomad culture. Although we weren't willing to live our lives serving the Air Acoytles, we revolved our lifestyle around a minimalisitc living just as the air benders did."

"They taught us not to think about the things that made our mind sick. Tenzin, you've lived your life doing a great service to the world, but surely even you know that destiny has a strange way of serving no one?" Tenzin nods his head a little. "And that air benders live life accepting destiny, moving with it accordingly, never struggling when it takes them somewhere they don't wish to be?"

Tenzin let out a soft chuckle, "abandon expectations..."

"And you'll be prepared for the unexpected," Aura finishes.

There hasn't been any snowfall all day long. Even as a few snow flakes begin to fall the trail will remain fresh enough for them to follow it. Desna and Sato were ordered to guard the city highway in case equalists were to return. Fuck that. Tonraq has enough guards on high alert, if two of them decide to leave their posts, it won't be the end of the world.

_Why didn't he send out a search party? _Sato thinks to herself. Desna holds her waists as the snow mobile passes another bump. She keeps forgetting that he's there with her. He's really become like family to her ever since he began doing guard work with her and Atuat. "Hey Desna, are you going out wih Atuat?"

"What?" Desna says. She can't see his facial expressions since he's riding in the seat behind her. The question probably caught him off guard.

"My sister, Atuat. Are you two together? I won't be angry or anything if you say yes."

"What makes you think that?" He says defensively.

"You and Eska are her only friends, and she's the only other girl you ever talk to. I saw how you rejected that girl Tonraq tried to hook you up with today. She was hot, which means you're either gay or you're already with my sister."

Although she couldn't see him, she could tell Desna was clenching his fists. "Or maybe," Desna yells, "I just hate talking to broads who think royalty fucking matters!"

She couldn't help but chuckle, "then I'm guessing Atuat is different?" He doesn't say anything. She's actually glad that her sister has a good friend to talk to, it says a lot about the both of them. Although Desna has a few noticable flaws, Sato has the impression that Desna and Atuat are somehow _compatible_ to each other.

She slows down her snow mobille. "Why are we stopping?" Desna asks.

"The tracks end here." She steps off her vehicle. "And we're being watched."

"What?"

A man slides down from the mountain side above them. He wears goggles and a ski mask to conceal his face. His coat design is distinguishably from the northern water tribe. "Halt," he says in a calming tone. "I am Elite number 155, assigned by the chief to carry out an important mission. I'm going to have to ask you both to leave, I can't have civilians interfering with our assignment."

Desna was clearly impressed. He'd never seen an Elite before, the person standing in front of him looked to be about the same age as he is. Sato doesn't respond to him. She even ignores him and walks to the mountain side to look over at where the van reared off from the road. She sees broken wreckage of the van, as well as a few signs of earth bending.

"We understand," Desna answers, "are you sure you won't need our assistance? We're very skilled benders."

He shakes his head, "we'd like to keep our operation small. Less people means better discretion." The soldier tilts his head, "You're prince Desna, aren't you?" Desna nods at him. The soldier gives him a bow. "A pleasure to meet you. Tonraq has told me that you and your sister are top candidates for Elite training. It will be a pleasure to work alongside the both of you."

His eyes widen, "wait, what? Did you just say my sister is a candidate too?" The soldier nods. "But she's a terrible bender, how the heck is she qualified?"

"She's a better bender then you think, Desna. We have a few scouts within the village, upon watching your sister, there have been several occasions where she's used her bending in an advanced skill level."

Desna wasn't sure what to say to that. A part of him didn't believe him but a larger part of him would never argue with a member of the special forces. Sato didn't care about any of that, she says to him, "So you were spying on her? Spying on a princess?"

"Not me, scouts."

"Like that makes a difference," her words come out like venom. "All you Elite are the same, you break laws because you think it might help. Those laws exist for a reason." She turns her back on the him to face Desna. She points a thumb back to the Elite. "Hey Desna, let me let you in on a little secret. A secret Tonraq likes to hide from the rest of us."

The Elite replies, "I'm going to have to ask you to leave now."

"The Elite are made up of some our best soldiers, but guess where they got their stealth training from? Theives. And wanna know something else? A large portion of them: former convicts. Former criminals trained by more criminals that break the law to help royal tribe members carry out royal agendas."

"That isn't true Desna." The warrior pleads, and rehearses a line he's learned to know by heart. "The Elite exist to protect their people. The Elite do what is necessary in order to help the community. The Elite make sacrifices in order to ensure that the tribe will prosper."

"Which tribe?" Sato interrupts.

"What?"

"Which tribe do you help prosper?" Sato replies.

"Both the north and the south are united." He answers in irritation, "you'd have to be blind not to see that."

"Which one of us is blind?" Sato walks over to her Snow mobile, "C'mon Desna, if the 'great and highly respected' Elite soldier says they know what they're doing, I guess we have no choice but to leave."

The Elite soldier steps closer to the both of them, "you're Sato, aren't you? Daughter of Matua?"

Sato tenses up, "Umm... No?"

"Runaway Elite member 121."

Desna's eyes widen at her. "Don't look at me like that," Sato teases.

"You were a member of the Elite? And you deserted?" Desna's hands wrap around his head, "why!?"

"She's a traitor, Desna." The Elite answers for her, "Don't believe a word she says."

XXX

"Hit."

"Hit."

"Hit."

Ming-Hua passes the cards out to the three of them. Kana gets 5, Ghazan gets an Ace, and Aran gets a 2. "Stand," Aran says, totaling his cards to 18.

"Hit," Kana replies.

"Hit," Ghazan says as well, eyeing Kana.

Ming-Hua rolls her eyes. Her water arms give a card to both their decks. "Damn it!" Ghazan says, "Ming, I thought you were gonna help me out!"

"I have no sleeves, remember?" she lifts her water tentacles to prove her point.

"We appreciate the honesty though," Aran says, "hey Kana, Hit or Stand?"

Kana looks down at her card. Her cards add up to 20. "Stand, it looks like I win."

Ming-Hua shakes her had, "I have 20 too, and house always wins the draw." She pushes the dollars towards her side of the table.

"Oiy! That's not fair! You had to have been cheating!"

Ming-Hua raises her water tentacles again, "again, no sleeves. I couldn't cheat even if I tried."

Kana throws her cards in the air, "this game is rigged, I'm out!" Except she can't really move, she's earth bent into the ground from the waist down.

"We got nothing better do," Ghazan says, picking at his teeth. "Unless you wanna talk about ideologies again, which got pretty boring the first time."

Kana turns her head away. Aran lets out a low sigh. Fortunately for him their captors allowed them freedom of their upper bodies.

Ghazan kicks his chair away from the table. "Welp, things are about to get awkward. I'm gonna do a patrol around the hideout before one of you guys decide to talk about something useless."

"Can I join you?" Aran asks.

Ghazan replies, "Nope, nice try though." He heads out the door.


	6. Phantom

Phantoms

The base had been established two months ago. Shin and Aran felt the best place to create a base would be somewhere "inaccesible" as well as "escapable." The cave hides underneath the depths of the mountain valley. One would have to be suicidal to want to explore the canyon side without any reasoning. And because the cave is connected through several more caverns hidden within the mountain range, the location provides natural barriers that give defense, camouflage, and the option to retreat.

That didn't stop Pi'Li. The weight Shin had carried made it easy for her to quietly scale down the ridge until she could reach them. Shin obviously went through several procedures to make sure he wasn't followed, but it wasn't enough to lose a Black Lotus member.

"Where are the dormant agents? I need to contact them right now." Shin speaks through the microphone. The radio is much smaller then the ones commonly used by national militaries. Its also battery powered and less complicated then standard radios.

_Equaltopia, your technology never ceases to amaze us, _Pi'Li ponders. Thanks to the dim lighting in the cave, Pi'Li's cloak provides her enough camouflage to hide within the dark portions of the cave.

"We have six there." The one on the other line says. "And two more will be shipped in a few days. I'll relay them all a message that you need assistance."

"And how long will that take?" Shin asks.

"Five days."

Shin rubs his forehead to quell any signs of temperament, "I don't have five days. My team just got captured by people who aren't even from the water tribe."

There's a long pause on the other line. "I'm sorry First Lieutenant Shin, but we have no way of communicating with the other dormant agents. We only ever speak with them when they update us on their weekly missions."

Shin breathes deeply, almost growling as he speaks. "Give me a clue, any clue that I might be able to contact them."

The man on the other line goes silent, not as though he were trying to avoid the question, but as though he were searching through some papers on the other side of the line. "I have their undercover names. Two of them are guards, one of them is a politician, one is a criminal, and two of them are school children."

"Alright." Shin says, beginning to relax. "Can I get their names?"

The man on the other side goes silent. Pi'Li remains still as she memorizes the names.

XXX

Atuat does her best not to glare at Aura. The passenger seat was designed for two riders that were meant to be for herself and Eska. For some reason though, Eska opted to invite Aura to sit next to her instead, leaving Atuat to act as their cheuffer.

She doesn't dislike Aura, but that doesn't stop her from imagining Aura getting between herself and Eska. She shoots a glance to the both of them, Eska forces some sushi into Aura's mouth. Her envy overwhelms her, she yells, "I think its time we stop for camp!"

Unalaq looks back at her, "good call Atuat. Those winds will get worse as we travel closer to the spirit portals. Its better we rest now and collect our strength while we can."

Unalaq turns his vehicle to a nearby cave dwelling. Tenzin and Kya follow closely behind him and Atuat, Eska, and Aura follow along after them. The cave dwelling's insects scurry away as their lights flash into the darkness.

Stepping off from the vehicles, each of them proceed to unpack their gear onto the ground. Even Eska begins to notice Atuat's staring at Aura. "Why do you hide your face?" Atuat says to Aura, doing her best to hide any signs of displeasure from her voice.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Aura asks.

"It's just... different."

Aura sighs, "It's cold, Atuat. I've never been to a water tribe before. I don't like the wind hitting against my face." Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Atuat goes back to stretching out her sleeping bag.

By the time camp is settled and the campfire is done, Eska begins to feel a bit of anxiety in the air as Atuat and Aura refuse to talk to each other. _Is Atuat jealous of Aura? _She wonders to herself. They've both been friends since they were little girls, she should not feel intimidated by a stranger she'd just met.

Gathered around the campfire Atuat can't help but glare into Aura's direction. "What's your story Aura?" All heads turn towards her. Aura is admittedly the most mysterious member of their group, and Atuat won't let that slide. "I know you're a refugee, but you're kinda... different compared to the other refugees I've."

"Different as in how?" Aura answers non-condescendingly.

Atuat shrugs. "I dunno. Most refugees go out of their way to volunteer for the tribe so that they can be seen as 'worthy' for membership. They tend to be quick about contributing to the tribe so that they can better find a place in our tribe." She points to her fingers to her eyes, mirroring where Aura's goggles would be. "But I've never met a refugee who goes out of her way to NOT become a part of our tribe. You look like an equalist the way your face is hidden. I get that you plan on leaving the south pole once we visit the spirit world, but where are you planning on going once this is over? Why do you-"

"Shut up Atuat!" Eska screams. Atuat's face pales, clearly never having heard Eska yell at her, or anyone, before.

Even Unalaq shows surprise to Eska's reaction. Kya and Tenzin look at each other, not understanding Eska's out-of-character outburst. "Aura," Kya says, "May I ask how you came to the south pole?"

Aura and Eska look at each other silently. They quietly nod in agreement to each other. "Tenzin," Aura says, "do you remember what I told you about my father?" Tenzin nods to her. "The man who taught me about the air nomads was not my father, he was only my teacher. I never met my father. I don't even know his name, his face, or whether he abandoned me and is still alive, or is deceased and couldn't take care of me. My mentor took me in after my mother died. She had committed suicide when I was three years old."

"How..." Kya distrupts, "Could someone choose that?"

"She was once a part of a gang." Aura replies, "They were taking money from her. I believe they were the serpents gang, or at least thats what the police assume. There was a note she left for me." She takes a note out from her pocket and unfolds it. She reads aloud the words scribbled onto it.

_"Aura. There is nothing more that I can give. You are the only valuable thing that I have ever created. My life is now worthless. Not only am I a waste of life, but I will also be a drain in your life. I can't take care of you, I don't deserve to love you. Anything I do with you would only drag you into agony. You're life is better without me. I love you, I love you more then anything. Be good, be meaningful." _

"My teacher didn't give me this letter until after the revolution began. He finally felt that I was old enough to know the truth."Aura taps her ear, "It's odd. I didn't remember her at all before. But the moment I read that letter, I could visualize her face. I remembered seeing her death, I could even hear the song that she'd sung to me." She leans her head back, "or is it just my imagination? Did I make it up to make myself feel like I had a mother? I don't know, but by the time I read this letter, it didn't matter." Her voice goes soft, "I felt numb. Like it didn't matter to me anymore, and that I'm a monster for not feeling anything."

There's a long silence around the campfire. Unable to provide words for her, they could only offer her sympathy through silence. _Good, _Korra thinks to herself, _Let them believe I am who I say I am. _

She puts the letter away. "Atuat," Aura says, "you want to know why I came here? You want to know why I want to leave as soon as I'm done here? The answer is in the letter. I want to be meaningful. And I can only do one meaningful thing in the South Pole, after this, I'd like to do meaningful things in other places."

XXX

Noah draws out a long liquid from his pouch. It's light brightens his face as he stretches the water to encircle his body. "Oasis water," Noah taunts, "touched by the moon spirit herself. Something only Elites have access to."

"Actually," Sato corrects, "you'd be surprised how easy it is to bribe an Elitist to share some Spirit water with you." She lifts up her pouch to unscrew the lid. "I stopped using Spirit water after I found something better." She pours out dark blood from her pouch. She weaves her hands around to slowly let the fluid stretch across her sides. "Blood bending is much cooler."

Noah grits his teeth. "You're a cretin. Blood is sacred and you defile it, who's blood are you using?"

Sato grins, "you don't wanna know."

Noah whips his water at Sato, she easily blocks it away with her blood chain. They both throw a series of whips as to each other as they sprint towards each other. Upon closing in, Sato kicks in front of them to form an ice block towards his chest. Noah leaps himself into the air to dodge and launches water icicles midair at her. Sato spins the blood back around herself, the blood streams whip away at the icicles without any gestures from her hands.

Desna lays back on the boulder trying to do his best not the yawn. "Sato," Desna calls out plainly,"his left hand is his dominant hand, hit on his right side."

Following his instruction, Sato spins a series of kicks all aimed at Noah's right side. Noah blocks the first two chunks of ice, but fails to block the blood whip that hits him from his blind side. Sato launches an ice ball at his chest, and manages to knock him a few feet back into the air.

"Elite," Desna shouts, "Sato has a minor leg injury. Hit her when her knees aren't bent."

Noah quickly stands on his feet and turns the ground below them into ice. He slides closer to her while throwing low kicks at her. Waves of snow shake the ground beneath Sato's feet. She slides away from him and tumbles over because of the movements. "Who's side are you on!?" Sato shrills. She forces herself to stand up and revert the surrounding ice into snow.

"No one's side," Desna answers. He finally lets out a yawn, "both of you are fighting because you hurt each other's egos. I'd rather go home right now if I could. But if you two really insist on fighting each other, I might as well make this a little less boring."

The Elite and Sato freeze to look at Desna's direction. Looking behind himself, Desna sees a dark husk zig-zag itself into his direction. It stops in front of him. The creature's glowing eyes stare deep into Desna's. Without saying a word, the black spirit skitters around Desna, and heads into the valley.

XXX

"There are four of them, two are earth bent into the ground."

"We'll count them as out of action." Kanut tells the scout, "that turns this into two against forty."

The forty Elite silently hold their positions surrounding the cabin in the empty tundra. They hide underneath the snow wearing camaflouged gear in crouching positions. Staring at the cabin they patiently await for their orders.

"We want the Equalists," Kanut reminds them all, "But the Black Lotus are assassins that shouldn't exist. By trespassing on our territory without consent, they're violating our law and our sovereignty."

Kanut nods to the scout. The scout starts relaying a message to the rest of the elite. The soldiers surrounding the perimeter start closing in. As they move closer to the cabin, half the soldiers stop and the other half continue moving closer. Half those soldiers stop afterwards, with the other half continuing to advance. This continues until five soldiers finally have their back against the cabin walls. The Elite watch in silence as the cabin begins to melt.

The five soldiers stutter away from the building. Lava leaks out from the floor. They each get snatched from the ground and lifted into the sky. "Thanks for the visit," Ming-Hua says to one of the soldiers. She moves one of them closer to her face, "those equalists were really getting on my nerves."

The soldiers closest to them shoot ice blocks at her torso. Min-Hua uses the Elite in her hands as human shields. The Elite scream in pain as the attacks hit them. "I'd think twice before attacking again."

The soldiers hardly hesitate. They form their own water arms and latch them onto their teammate's bodies. The five soldiers tug and tussle as they try to pull away the hostages from Ming-Hua. The ten soldiers behind them run past their allies to move closer to Ming-Hua's body.

Twenty Elite attack from a distance as Ming-Hua fends off the warriors closest to her. "Forty against one? That's not fair, and all of you know why." The soldiers farthest from her start to collapse. "I'll always be outnumbered, but never outmatched."

Ice and water rise from the ground. Soldier after soldier gets incapicated. They either freeze or get sucked into the ground. The soldiers once trying to save their teammates give up their efforts and launch icicles at Ming-Hua's body. She uses her hostages as a shield again. The ice cuts through the bodies.

The ten soldiers closest to her create brigades of ice at her. Surrounded, she uses the water in their pouches to try and feel which angle each of them will attack from. The spirit water works to her advantage the most. They're like dancing fireworks to her as they approach closer to her.

The Elite draw out their special water hoping it will deter her as though she were a sort of demon. Instead, Ming-Hua absorbs the water into her arms, making them glow and become more intimidating then they were before. "Nice," Ming-Hua grins, "you guys are WAY better then those equalists."

XXX


	7. Runners

Runners

"There was a fence," Aura says. She looks up, "it stood about... twenty feet tall. Normally it has an electrical current running through it, but the guards can be bribed to shut off certain sections of the fence so that people can escape. I'm guessing they're alright with a few benders leaving Equaltopia."

"I'm guessing you had help from a runner then?" Unalaq ask.

She nods, "our runner wasn't kind though. One of the other girls had to be left behind."

"What do you mean, 'left behind?'" Atuat asks.

"Most of us made it passed the fence. For the sake of remaining hidden, we had to climb it one person at a time. A citizen must have saw us, because the authorities began to approach us after a few us made it to the other side. When our runner told us we'd been caught, he ran away."

"He just left you there to get caught?" Kya asks.

Aura nods, "We all knew the risks of escaping the city. Getting caught was always a possibility. None of us truly expected the runner to help us if something went wrong."

Eska stands up and stretches her arms out. "I've already heard this part," she announces, "I'm gonna go scout ahead the path real quick. You guys should be finished by the time I get back." She walks to the edge of camp and unsheathes her telescope.

Aura continues.

"Once we realized that the authorities were coming for us, we had only two choices: Either run back to the city and try to hide from he authorities, or climb the fence as quickly as possible, with the risk that the electricity would turn on any second. All of us risked climbing the fence. Most of us were able to climb and jump off from the top before the power could be turned back on."

She pauses, looking in front of her feet to remember the events that had occured. So much more had happened that she wasn't telling them. "I don't know who she was," Aura mumbles, "but she was the last one to climb to the top of the fence. The electricity sparked on as soon as she reached the top. I didn't even hear scream. Looking back, I only saw that she stopped breathing, like her body went limp. She fell down to the ground in front of her. I heard a bone break, but she didn't move after she fell."

Eska was far enough from camp to be away from the conversation, but still close enough to hear the context of Aura's story. Korra is a good liar, Eska knows this. Hearing that story a second time is still too much for her. On one hand, the way its told is so realistic that she doesn't want to stomach the crimes that Equaltopia have committed. On the other hand, the idea that Korra fabricated tragedies based on true events from real refuges makes her sick.

Eska is certain there's truth to Korra's story, but she can't tell which parts aren't true.

"It could have been me." Korra tells to herself, "that stranger. She offered to let me go first, she pushed me up to give me a head start. We both knew she'd get caught, but I didn't care... I didn't even get her name..."

_There it is, _Eska thinks, _That's the lie. _From the way Korra tells these lies Atuat probably believes her too. And adults tend to be gullible with kids they like, a first impression is always important for them. Eska would've fallen for Korra's deceit too, if it weren't for Desna had once told her.

_ If you don't want to tell the whole truth, tell a half truth_. It takes a liar to know a liar? A women's intuition? She isn't quite sure how, but she knows for certain that Korra is an expert liar. It must run in their family. The only thing left for Eska to figure out is how much of a lie Korra's life really is.

"These things happen." Kya says in a low tone.

Eska's father adds. "Aura, you should just be glad that most of you made it out of there. There have been many more situations where most of the people didn't make beyond the wall."

Aura looks down in a daze. "I know," she answers. There's was a long silence surrounding the fireplace. Although conversations could normally end during this time, each of them were still eager to hear the rest of Aura's story.

"After what happened I spent six months in a refugee camp, living on scraps that the earth kingdom nobles were willing to donate. Most of the people in the earth kingdom resented us and I didn't blame them. We were refugees on foreign land. Poverty was everywhere and there wasn't enough wealth to go around. We'd often find earth kingdom townsfolk stealing from our camp supplies."

Tenzins raises an eyebrow, "but I thought the earth kingdom took better care of refugees. The earth empress herself has said that she considers all Republic citizens, citizens of the earth kingdom as well."

"That is correct." Aura answers, "and if the government can't take care of its own citizens, then it can't take care of refugees either."

Kya taps her chin, "Huh, that would explain why the northern tribe only accepts water benders."

Atuat, wanting to add her input, adds, "or why the fire nation has closed its sea borders."

"I think that has more to do with security then a lack of resources." Unalaq says. "Future Equalist attacks are still very likely to occur. The Fire Nation and Northern Water tribe have taken the most precautions to make sure Equalists will never enter their borders." He lets out a low sigh, "I'm beginning to wonder if our tribe should've had the same idea."

Aura lifts her chin up, "I don't know if you made the right choice in keeping the doors open for us, but I'd like you to know that it made a difference to me." Unalaq smile a bit.

Aura finishes her story. "Not much happened while I was in camp. I wanted to travel to the Southern tribe sooner but buying food was always more important to us. Locals wouldn't let me work for them, bandits constantly stole from us and authorities didn't like helping us. After six months of failing to arrange a vessel to take me and my friends to the southern pole, we finally decided to join a pirate crew so that we could come here before harmonic Convergence."

Unalaq crosses his arms, "you joined a pirate crew?"

Aura lifts her hands up in defense, "I didn not hurt anyone... Physically..."

"You're a theif?" Atuat concludes. Aura murmurs something that no one could hear, confirming Atuat's statement. "Ha! I knew there was something fishy about you!" She puts an arm around Aura's shoulder, "I'm gonna take a wild guess here. You seem like a good person, so I'm guessing you only stole from nobles who don't actually lose much when a few gold coins end up missing. Am I right?"

Aura nods in shame.

"Priceless!" Atuat shouts.

Tenzin rubs his eyebrows, "Aura, you can't justify theivery-"

Aura motions for Tenzin to stop. "I'd rather not argue about this with you, Tenzin. We clearly have different opinions when it comes to methods and results, lets not create a rift between us because of that difference."

She sounds so honest to everyone, its no wonder why they're quickly learning to like her. She and Eska truly are cousins, both of them know how to lie their way into people's hearts. While Eska prefers to blatantly replace honesty with ignorance, Korra pretends to act compassionately.

The day of the festival when Eska offered to pick out Korra's clothes, Korra kept insisting that she not remove her goggles or scarf cover. At first Eska had thought it was because of some scar she was insecure about, but after forcefully removing Aura's attire, Eska realized that she looked exactly like her aunt did when she was younger.

Just as Eska does everyday, she pretended that it didn't bother her. She pretended that Korra was still a stranger to her. A part of her was excited that she'd regained some family back, another part of her was skeptical of the truth, but a larger part of her was concerned as to why Korra had chosen to lie to her. There's no doubt in her mind that this involved Avatar business, but she was still disappointed that Korra could'nt trust her own blood relatives.

Her telescope gets shrouded in darkness. After lowering it, she a dark orb with glowing eyes and whiskers stares down at her. It stood fifteen feet tall and looked like a figureless catfish. She freezes in place, as though movement would affect the creature's action. After staring at each other for a long time, the creature sprints around Eska and runs toward Korra.

"Korra!" Eska yells.

Aura snaps towards Eska's direction. Before the others can think to react, the creature jumps in front of Aura and wraps its arms around her body. Atuat unsacks her boomerang begins clubbing the creature. After stepping between Aura and the spirit while simultanously hitting the monster, the spirit decides to wrap his body into both Aura and Atuat. Its wraps around the both of them as though it were made of clay. They both quickly find themselves shrouded in darkness.

Unalaq quickly tries to calm the spirit using spirit bending to try and send the spirit away. But the spirit grows larger and sweeps an arm into Unalaq's body. He's thrown into Tenzin's direction and the both of them fall back.

The spirit turns away to from the three of them to face the direction of the spirit portal. Eska stands in its path. She pours out glowing Oasis water from her pouch and swirls the water around the spirit's body to finish what her father had started. The water floats the dark spirit into the air in a serene tone. It glows a bright light as it begins to show signs of calm. After a few minutes of trying to subdue the spirit, Eska's spirit water begins to evaporate. The water disapears and the spirit quickly returns into its shade of darkness. It wraps one of its arms around Eska, and drags her into the spirit forest.

XXX

"How does this thing work anyway?" Ghazan holds up Kana's fire sprayer. "What happens if I..." He pulls the lever from the side and pulls the trigger. A foggy blue liquid sprays out from the nozzle. The liquid sprays on the cave wall and freezes the stone. "Neat." Ghazan concludes, "you know, for anti-benders, you guys are really good at copying us."

Kana shakes her head eradically. The stone wrapped up across her shoulders prevents her from hurting herself. "STOP TOUCHING MY WEAPON! ITS MINE!"

"Is she always this feisty?" Ghazan asks.

Aran, in the same staionary position next to her, answers, "leave me out of this. I don't wanna get on her bad side once we escape."

Ghazan chuckles, "there's not gonna be an escape, pal. Once we capture your lieutenant, we'll be able to figure out your real plans."

"He's not gonna say jack!" Kana screams, "Shin has ten times the stone you and Aran have, combined!"

"Gee, thanks Kana," Aran replies. "But we've already told you what our plans are, lavabender. We captured Varric for his ingenuity, and kidnapped Bumi to set an example against Equalist enemies. There's not much more to our plan then that."

"Oh really?" Ming-Hua's echoe is heard from a distance. She enters the cave with a single Elite soldier dragged by her water arm. "If you aren't planning anything, why did this equalist agent send the water tribe Elite to come after us?"

"What?" Ghazan asks.

Ming-Hua tosses the soldier at Ghazan's feet. He naturally encases an earth case around his body to prevent him from moving. "Damn benders..." the soldier mutters.

"You told them?" Kana shouts, "what did you tell her traitor!"

"I didn't say anything!" The young soldier shouts, "she picked me out of random and started calling me an equalist!"

With a smug look on her face, she pulls out a small glove from his pockets. "Equalist gloves." Ming-Hua answers, "Smaller then those giant ones we're used to seeing. They can be hidden, and are reserved for secret agents. Why would an Elite have an anti-bending weapon?"

"Are you sure they aren't just giving them to Elite soliders now?" Ghazan asks. "It would make sense for the Elite carry more weapons in case of emergencies."

"I thought of that. Here' a spare radio he was carrying. All the other Elite only had one radio to talk, why did this guy have two?" Ming-Hua throws a radio from her pocket to Ghazan's direction. He catches it and starts alternating the switch. The soldier doesn't say anything, hoping not to reveal anything else about himself. "You're all planning something, and we're going to find out what."

Ghazan pushes the three hostages to the wall while cementing them into the cave. He adjusts the knob a few more times trying to receive a frequency, "short ranged radio, commonly issued by Republic police. Elite use different models that link up to radio towers in the north and south poles... How the heck did an anti-bender hide alongside water-bending Elite?"

"Because he's also a bender. I saw him attacking me just like everyone else. He thought I wouldn't notice the electric glove or spare radio he had hidden on him, but I did, and now he's caught."

Ghazan puts his arm on Ming-Hua's and leads her away from their hostages. After getting outside from their hearing, Ghazan asks, "why is a bender be working for the Equalists?"

Ming-Hua replies, "and why was an Equalist pretending to be an Elite? I'm not sure how long he's been spying for the Equalists, but I'm pretty sure he's the reason the Elite soldiers attacked us. He probably thought the Elite could capture us and take us all as prisoners. Then once his friends were left unguarded, he could've set them free."

"But why are there Equalists hiding inside Elite ranks in the first place? And why the heck is a bender even allied with them?"

"I don't know Ghazan. But its our job to find out."


End file.
